Life-changing surgery gives the gift of sight
This week on 60 Minutes, two doctors embark on one of their most challenging missions: fighting blindness and partial blindness in the isolated country of Burma.
The Gift of Sight
60 Minutes correspondent Bill Whitaker met Dr. Geoffrey Tabin, pictured here, and Dr. Sanduk Ruit in Taunggyi, which is located in central Burma, home to some of the highest rates of cataracts in the world.
The Gift of Sight
Dr. Sandak Ruit, pictured here, and Dr. Tabin perfected small incision cataract surgery, which takes just minutes and costs about $20.
The Gift of Sight
The eye surgeons have restored eyesight to more than 150,000 patients in 24 countries.
The Gift of Sight
Four million more have been helped by doctors they've trained.
The Gift of Sight
Patients -- gathered in a Buddhist monastery -- wait for their bandages to be removed.
The Gift of Sight
U Myint Oo, pictured here, had not been able to see for two years due to cataracts.
The Gift of Sight
Cataracts are a milky, white build-up of protein that clouds the lens of the eye.
The Gift of Sight
In four days in Taunggyi, Dr. Ruit and Dr. Tabin -- with the help of local doctors -- performed 503 cataract surgeries.
The Gift of Sight
As the bandages came off, first wonder; then smiles and celebration.
The Gift of Sight
"I still get such a thrill when people don't expect or realize they're gonna have their sight restored," Dr. Geoffrey Tabin said.
The Gift of Sight
"I may have seen it thousands of times, but every time, there's a new tickle there," Dr. Sanduk Ruit said. "And I feel like my battery's been recharged."
The Gift of Sight
Together, Ruit and Tabin founded the Himalayan Cataract Project, one of eight semifinalists for a $100M grant from the MacArthur Foundation.
The Gift of Sight
A Burmese woman celebrates her restored eyesight.